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VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES HANDLING CHANGES

10/24 VOLUME V, PART XIV, PAGE 6

household must clarify its situation or provide additional information as indicated above. The household has ten days to provide the requested information. If the household does not respond within the ten-day period, the BPS must send the household an Advance Notice of Proposed Action or Notice of Action to close the case. If the household responds before the effective date of the closure and there are no changes in the household's circumstances, the BPS must rescind the adverse action notice and reinstate the case.

Untimely Response - Changes Reported The BPS must send a household a Request for Contact form when a household must clarify its situation or provide additional information as indicated above. The household has ten days to provide the requested information. If the household does not respond within the ten-day period, the BPS must send the household an Advance Notice of Proposed Action or Notice of Action to close the case. If the household responds after the reporting period but before the effective date of the closure, and reports changes to its circumstances, the BPS must review the change report and determine the impact, if any, on the household's eligibility or benefit level. If the household remains entitled to an allotment despite the information, the BPS must send a Notice of Change to increase benefits from zero to the revised amount.

No Response to the Request for Contact If the household does not respond to the request for information by the tenth day, the BPS must send the household an adverse action notice to close the case. The basis for the case's closure will be the household's failure to provide clarification.

If the contact request form is undeliverable by the post office because of the address, the BPS must send the contact request to the new address, if one is supplied by the post office and the new address is in the same Virginia locality as the BPS taking the action. If a returned address indicates that the household is no longer in the locality, the BPS must close the case. Depending on when the changes occurred in a household's circumstances, the BPS might need to file a claim for benefits that the household incorrectly received.

e. Suspension

When changes cause a household to become ineligible and it appears that the ineligibility will be temporary, the BPS may suspend benefits for one month rather than close the case. The BPS must send An Advance Notice of Proposed Action to suspend unless the change meets one of the exceptions for sending the notice. After the month of suspension, if ineligibility continues, the BPS must close the case. The BPS must send another Advance Notice of Proposed Action. If the ineligibility is indeed temporary, the BPS must reinstate the case effective the month following the suspension.

TRANSMITTAL #35